Stone

Clean, stuff with various aromatics and/or citrus. Score, rub with OO, S&P, some chopped herb. Grill. If they're thick, grill carefully.

I just saw these at Costco: Mouton Rothschild, 2000 - $270 Haut Brion, 2000 - $ 250 Chateau Margaux, 2000 - $275. Parker suggest that each of these are in the $300 range, and Wine Club (a local place in SF that has great prices) has them for well over $300. Odd, don't you think?

I'm not sure where this came up, but I was speaking with a food person recently (she helps develop new products for restaurants, etc.). She said that market research has confirmed that people will rate better "looking" food as tasting better. One simple example she gave was coffee. People were asked to rate two cups of the same coffee -- the only difference was that one had a few drops of flavorless caramel color added to make it darker. Almost everyone rated the darker coffee as tasting better -- richer, more robust, blah blah blah. But if the lights were off, the two cups would have tasted exactly the same.

Winsob 1 (The Expert) -- Hmm, I detect, a bouquet of herbal, grassy green pepper and asparagus juice. Definitely. I often refer to this as "kitty pee pee." Winsob 2 (The Rich-Guy-With-Lots-Of-Money-And-A-Big-Gold-Chain-Around-His-Neck) -- Oh, yes. The instant I tatsed it, I said to myself, hey, that's a bouquet of herbal, grassy green pepper and asparagus juice. Yes, yes, yes. Mr. 1, you'r amazing. Winsob 3 (The Guy-Who-Just-Paid-A-Lot-of-Money-To-Take-A-Tasting-Course) -- At first, I thought it tasted like piss. But now I realize that it wasn't really, piss, it was cat urine. A whole different animal, so to speak. And, of course, this cat had recently dined on herbal, grassy green pepper and asparagus juice. Beer Drinker -- Why should I spend $25 for a bottle of cat piss? My cat gives it to me for free at home. And still, I'd rather drink a $3 bottle of shitty, lite, dry, ice beer because, you know, if it's going to taste like piss, at least it's cheap. And what the fuck are you talking about "herbal, grassy green pepper and asparagus juice?" What does that mean? Does anyone on the planet have any idea what "herbal, grassy green pepper and asparagus juice" tastes like? Winsob 1 -- But it's not wine?

Vinotemp. Are these any good?

Many SF threads are started by visitors asking for recommendations. When it comes to the "best" place in town, it seems to me that the list is fairly consistent: Fifth Floor Danko Fleur d' Lys. There seems to be more waiving for Fleur d' Lys, and the order gets switched around, of course, due to personal idiosyncrasies, but these seems to be the ones that the vast majority put on the list. (Note -- this is not necessarily my list, but more my observation of what we all post -- although I'd certainly say that I haven't had any meals in SF better than Danko or FF.) Ches Panisse is added with the "it's in Berkely caveat". And some people like to pull in the Napa Valley stalwarts. And then there are the "also rans" that regularly pop up: Masa (edit -- What's Mesa? I don't know.) Aqua Farallon Postrio La Folie (sometimes). And then there are the excellent restaurants in the next tier, including among many others: Delfina Alma Boulevard (not my personal fave) Various "Chez's" that have popped up everywhere. But are we in agreement? Are there any restaurants that consistently challenge Danko, Fifth Floor and Fleur d' Lys, or are they the Top of the Mark?

I forgot about them. But on the whole, discussing the best wings in NY is like discussing the best restaurant in San Francisco. There's two, maybe three definites (Danko, Fifth Floor, Fleur d' Lys), and a bunch of "but wait, what about"s.

Other than Atomic and Brother Jimmies, what options do you have? All the others seems to do nothing more than thaw out a bag of frozen "buffalo wings", pop them in the microwave and pour some watered-down hot sauce on them.

Farm Fresh To You. A veggie of the month club. I'm told it's very good. The website provides a lot of recipes so you know what to do with your kolrabi.

I'll try it. But I really didn't notice much identifiable meat in the point that I cooked. It wasn't as if there were two meat portions (point and flat) separated by discreet layer of fat. The entire point (or at least what I assume was the point), was a jumble of fat and meat "pockets".

You're right. I hope to have some food by 2 pm, with others coming throughout the afternoon. I still haven't decided on what exactly I'll cook, but I'm pretty sure the butt will be part of it. I may cut out the brisket, because I think that's the most difficult. I figure the butt will finish early, but I'll wrap it and put it in a closed oven (maybe a warm oven?). I expect to do the butt at 225 -- 250. Usually, when I've done big butts, I'm still not all the way at 14 hours. I get a great "pulled" texture about half way down, but there are still muscles that are mearly pork-roasts. I'm thinking that the brisket will be about 4 pounds. I tried a 9 pound whole brisket (flat and point), but it didn't come out well. The flat was over-done (probably my fault trying on overnight cook) and the point was just a glog of fatty meat. I don't want to risk another failure -- not everyone will be completely drugged up. Last time I did spare ribs, they only took about 4 hours or so. But then again, I've a few friends that haven't been around for a while. (By the way, Jim, the pink piggie makes me very sad.)

Not nearly. I did notice a bit more cream, but other than the butter-poached lobster, the meal was not heavily buttered. (Not that I'm suggesting the first meal was "over-buttered" in any way.)

Also, Fleur de Lys is certainly stuffy and traditional French. Has anyone tried Woodward's Garden? It's hidden under the highway overpass and behind a faded brick facade. Everyone tells me that they're told it's great, but no one's actually been there.

All day and all of the night. How about a big salmon filet? How long will that take?

I'd suggest El Toro (17th and Valencia), El Farolito (23d and Mission?) or El Taqueria (24th & Mission?) Hey! You agree with me on Taqueria El Toro! I remember liking El Farolito, too, but I'm not sure if I'm remembering the place correctly or confusing it with another. Remind me: Isn't that the Salvadoran place, or am I thinking of another place? If I'm remembering correctly, El Farolito opened something around 3 or 4 years ago and was a bright new space that had a long counter and room in the back. Is that the one? I think the El Salvadoran place you're thinking of is on 16th, just East of Valencia. It's not really a burrito joint, more of a restaurant.

Here's what I want to do in my Bullit, for a BBQ: 1 8lb shoulder (brined for three days as it defrosts) 2 racks o' ribs 1 brisket (just the flat) Maybe a chicken? Here's what I'm thinking. Start the Butt on the top rack at 9 pm the night before. Get the temp stable before going to sleep. Starting the brisket early in the am on the lower -- maybe 7ish. Brisket and/or butt should be done at 11ish. Put ribs on the now empty rack. -- 4 hours-ish? Toss on a couple o' brined chickens when another rack frees up. Am I way out of my abilities?

I'd suggest El Toro (17th and Valencia), El Farolito (23d and Mission?) or El Taqueria (24th & Mission?) In this order, and descending prices: Fifth Floor (doubt you'll get out for under $100 per) Danko (Maybe you'll get out for under $100) Zuni (more casual, but excellent) Limon (great tapas, well under $100, but not fancy) Same: Go over the Bay Bridge, stay on Route 80, East, for about 3,000 miles . . . . Delfina (upscale Italian 18th and Guererro) Rose Pistola (never been there, but here it's pretty good) Milano (great neighborhood joint, Pacific & Hyde) I second Yank Sing -- but they're only open weekday lunches. Ton Kiang (22nd and Geary) is supposed to be great. Tartine (18th & Guerrero) Keith & James' place (not the real name) (18th and Eureka) Boulangerie (Polk and Green)

What do you seal them in? Do they fit in an 11" bag, or do you use something else?

Are replacement rolls and bags sold at Costco or some other place? Or do you have to order them from Tilia? Also -- I read some mention that people use these to vacuum seal bags of their clothes. ???? Are they dwarfs or something? I can't see how I can stuff one of my shirts into one of these bags.

Call me when the soy lobby files its defamation and libel lawsuit.

This is fast becoming my favorite of my unnecessary kitchen items. I had a bunch of raw chicken breasts that I wanted to seal. I've also noticed that I'm running through the bag roll pretty fast. When I was making a single bag for each breast, I ended up with a lot of wasted space. So I created a bag that would fit the chicken breast the long way. Then I turned the bag 90 degrees and laid the center across the sealing strip to create two pouches in the bag. I put a breast in each pouch and sealed it normally. Seemed to work o.k. By the way, does this increase the storage period for stuff in the fridge? Usually I wouldn't leave a raw chicken breast or piece of fish in the fridge for more than 2-3 days. If I seal it, will they last longer?

Whilst down in the Bahamas, I bought some Kalik beer and brought it back to my hotel room. I found myself that night with a bottle of beer, a lighter and no opener. Straining my memory to recall the advice on this thread, I soon found myself with a bottle of beer, a cracked lighter, and no opener. I then found myself with an open bottle of beer and a dresser with a well-hidden gouge. Soon, I found myself with four empty bottles of beer, a dresser with one very deep gouge that was not easily hid and a need to pee.

An advertising friend of mine was living in Hong Kong. She was working on a large campaign for Kraft cheese. After a long, grueling meeting where folks tried to understand why their campaign was not as successful as they expected, she raised her hand: "Um, Chinese people don't like cheese?"

Of course, they could drive over to Napa for dinner. It's a nice drive over the hill (but dark and windy (that's wine-dy)), about 30 minutes.

Downtown SF: Postrio (Second tier masquerading as first $$$$) Boulevard (2d-3d tier masquerading as first $$$) Farallon (Through the looking glass and into Captain Nemo's wet dream $$$-$) Plouf (Best mussles in the city, outside seating in the alley $$) The Globe (A little outside Downtown, very good upscale casual $$) Kokari (Supposedly excellent upscale Mediterranean ??) Tadich Grille, Jeanty Jeans, Sams (Trading on reputation?) Aqua (Pretty good seafood. $$$$) Sonoma: The only place I know is called The General's Daughter. (I think.) Upscale, but very good.